Projects need autonomous and engaged people who make good choices. And by doing so they are able to achieve greatness.

A great way to do that is by creating (or copying) games. Games are fun, demand communication, collaboration and competition, require critical and creative thinking and, if you have more than one game, promote the ACE concept.

The best part: different teams can be working on different skills with different games at different times. All you need to do is set up different working stations in the classroom.

1. Show them who you are, what you are passionate about, the cool things you can do to let them know they have an awesome teacher;

2. Don’t judge them. Have as little background information on them as possible, at least for the first week before the inevitable labels come. When they come, remember that you can always help your students improve;

26/08/2017

Listening and Speaking Resources for the Extrovert

If you’re an extrovert, it’s likely that social interactions form an important part of your life. Luckily for you, auditory learning can be combined with many online tools that can help you meet and interact with people.

Of course, all learners will eventually need to practice with native speakers to really take their auditory skills to the next level, so introverts and extroverts alike should take note of these awesome resources.

Attention getters are a great classroom management tool! Whether students are busy working in groups, on class projects, or are just plain chatty, these attention getters are not only fun, but are an effective way to get your class re-focused, so you can give instructions.

25/08/2017

Today I'll show you 4 reasons why we fear talking to native speakers in English and how to overcome them.It is natural to have fear of speaking in public. However, it can get worse if we are speaking English or a second language.It is possible to get better at this, but first, we need to understand a few things.Watch this video and learn how you can overcome this fear and speak more confidently.

18/08/2017

English songs can be used for a wide variety of ESL learning and teaching activities. They can start discussions on a topic or even become the centre of debate. This is especially true of songs that develop a particular theme. Songs are also great for teaching listening.

One of my favorite exercises with music is completing the blanks as students listen or listening and choosing the correct words from two words than rhyme, for example cry and try.

Music can be a great way to connect with your students. Even students who aren’t fluent in English often know the words of popular songs phonetically, which makes these songs ideal resources for teaching your students certain forms of grammar, as well as vocabulary.

16/08/2017

Letter writing

Steps of writing an informal letter.

1. Write the date and a salutation.
2. Begin the letter with some pleasantries.
3. Share news and personal details.
4. Discuss topics that are relevant to your friend.
5. Write a final paragraph sending your friend best wishes.
6. Finish off with a closing, then sign your name.

Beginning the Letter

1 - Date the letter.If you're taking
the trouble to write a letter by hand, it's nice to add a date on the top left
corner of the paper. Many people save letters for years to come, and they like
to be able to see what day and year it was written to reminisce about earlier times.
Write out the date - for example, "May 7, 2013" - or abbreviate it
using only numbers indicating the month, day and year.

2 - Write a
salutation. The
beginning of a letter, whether it's handwritten or in the form of an email, is
called a salutation. That's where you address the person to whom you're writing
by name - for example, "Dear Emily" or "Hello, Skylar."
Think about the nature of your relationship with the letter recipient, as well
as your own preferences and style, and choose your greeting accordingly.

New way to practice irregular plural nouns - you know, those words that in their plural form don't have an soreson the end.

What better way than a card game?

Before we got playful, we read Brain P. Cleary's Feet and Puppies, Thieves and Guppies: What are Irregular Plurals?

Wacky illustrations combine with a whimsical rhyming explanation of the wacky inconsistencies of the English language.

Five cards were dealt to each of us. The rest of the cards were laid face down and scrambled around in a messy pile. The game is played like "Go Fish."

Players take turns asking their opponent(s) if they have the singular or plural form of the cards in their hand, until they have a match. If the opponent provides the card, the player gets to ask again, until they are told "I don't have that card" and must draw a card from the pile in the middle.

When a player runs out of cards, the game is over. Whoever has the most matches is the winner.

Keep the decks of cards separated and shuffle each well. The game is played like slap jack.

Set a timer for 6-10 minutes (or longer).

Turn the top card on the present tense deck (black and white cards) over so each player can read it. Leave it face up.

Now begin turning the colored (present tense) cards over one at a time, forming a pile. The player to spot the past tense version (e.g. left) of the present tense verb (e.g. leave) and slap the card first gets to take all the cards underneath.

The player counts those cards and the number is written down on a makeshift scorecard. The colored cards won by the player are combined with any remaining colored cards and a new present tense card is flipped over; play continues.

When the timer goes off, tally each player's score. Whoever has the highest number wins!